n 2020 Society of Professional Journalists, NorCal chapter
STUDENT SPECIAL PROJECT (all media) 1st PLACE
Kimberly Piñon, Adriana Marquez, Alyssa Piñon Villanueva and Claudia Meléndez Salinas for “Monterey County Young Voices Project: The Pandemic,” a special package produced for Voices of Monterey Bay about how their lives, and the lives of those in their community, were affected during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING (print/online small division) 1st PLACE
The staff of Voices of Monterey Bay (with the Monterey County Weekly and KSBW) for “How a criminal organization took control of a nonprofit community group in Salinas.”
n 2020 Association of Alternative Newsmedia
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING DAVID CARR AWARD (National) 1st PLACE
Monterey County Weekly, Voices of Monterey Bay, and KSBW: “How Nuestra Familia, a criminal organization, took control of MILPA, a community group in Salinas”
n 2021 Monterey County chapter of the ACLU
RALPH B. ATKINSON AWARD FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES
To Voices’ co-founders Julie Reynolds Martinez, Claudia Meléndez Salinas, Kathryn McKenzie and Joe Livernois. The honor included certificates of recognition from Rep. Jimmy Panetta, state Sens. John Laird and Anna Caballero and Assemblymembers Robert Rivas and Mark Stone.
n 2021 Institute for Nonprofit News
INNY AWARDS: BREAKING BARRIERS (National, micro) HONORABLE MENTION
For the Youth Civic Engagement Project
n 2022 The Society of Professional Journalists, NorCal chapter
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
For Voices of Monterey Bay Investigative Reporter Royal Calkins.” He is a “champion of overlooked people, a challenger to corrupt power and a mentor to journalists wherever he goes.”
n 2023 Evident Change
MEDIA FOR A JUST SOCIETY AWARDS (National) FINALIST podcast/radio
To Julie Reynolds Martínez, Gilbert Bao, and Mara Reynolds for “After Life,” the second season of Voices’ Gray Area podcast.
n 2023 Institute for Nonprofit News
INNY AWARDS: BREAKING BARRIERS (National, micro) 1st PLACE
For “After Life,” the second season of Voices’ Gray Area podcast. “‘After Life’ gave a voice to some of the most marginalized and forgotten members of society, the formerly incarcerated and those who are still serving time. A collaboration between two podcasters and a former prisoner who served two decades behind bars, it modeled respectful, trauma-aware reporting.”
n 2023 The Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter
ARTS & CULTURE (print/online small division) 1st PLACE
To Claudia Meléndez Salinas of Voices of Monterey Bay for profiles of Luis Valdez, father of Chicano theater, and actor Pepe Serna, and a feature on the annual Palenke Arts Festival in Seaside.
EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM (print/online small division) 1st PLACE
To Claudia Melendez Salinas and Zaydee Sanchez of Voices of Monterey Bay for “EXPOSED: A series about the effects of pesticides on communities”
PUBLIC SERVICE (all media) 1st PLACE
To Claudia Melendez Salinas and Zaydee Sanchez of Voices of Monterey Bay for “EXPOSED: A series about the effects of pesticides on communities”
